WARNING: True Nature contains violent sex scenes and scenes of questionable consent that may be triggering or upsetting to some readers.

Senator Abel Valentine comes to the Orion Enterprises Pleasure Dock every year to have sex with the universe’s most dangerous alien, the X’afalel – the last of a race that Abel himself destroyed to end a war marked by rape and slavery. The X’afalel not only runs the risk of killing him, but has a one-in-three chance of transferring a deadly parasite that will slowly consume his organs. Pleasure Dock owner and employee D’hasa Sanxi is secretly in love with Abel and tries to stop him while attempting to fathom the reasons why a man so respected and loved would want to suffer through such a hellish and dangerous experience year after year.

Kyle sat on the back step of the convenience store. He opened a bottle of up-to-date milk, sniffed it, and poured it into a bowl. The alley cats jumped down from the fence and crawled out from behind the dumpsters, racing for the bowl. Soon there were a thousand tiny tongues lapping at the milk and Kyle couldn’t help but smile as he petted their heads.

“You’re all alone, just like me,” he sighed, standing up as it started to rain. He headed back inside as the cats scattered to avoid getting wet.

“Hey, I closed up,” the manager said, tossing the keys to Kyle. “Remember, keep the lights off and the noise down. If anybody finds out you’re living here, I’ll lose my job.”

Kyle sat back down and closed the Penumbra. No, he thought. Even if I could make potions, why would I do something like that? I’m not sure I even feel that way about Robert. Besides, he’s not in any immediate danger. He wants to train his apprentice before he leaves the world. I’ve got time to come up with a better plan to save his life. One that doesn’t interfere with his free will.

“Dinner’s ready!” Robert’s voice was as clear as a bell as he yelled up the stairs, and Kyle pushed his thoughts away, heading downstairs. He sat at the kitchen table and spooned the stew into his mouth until his bowl was empty.

Kyle left the house on the hill and cut through the graveyard, reaching the main road as a heavy rain shower moved in. Damn it, he thought, as rain droplets soaked his head and trickled down to his scalp. I should have brought my jacket.

A bright green Mini pulled over to the side of the road beside him. Tempest rolled down the window and popped his head out.

“Come on, little apprentice, get in,” Tempest sighed impatiently. “Don’t you know us witches melt in the rain?” He giggled at his own joke.

Kyle woke to find the sun shining in the window of his bedroom. It took him a second to remember where he was and he smiled. It’s real. I’m really here. He let his head sink back into the pillow, savoring the moment.

He realized he could smell bacon and sat up, reluctantly getting out of bed and rifling through his bags. He threw some fresh clothes on and hurried downstairs, realizing he was ravenous. He followed the smell and found himself in a large kitchen. Robert was standing at the stove, frying bacon and eggs in a large pan.

Kyle flipped through the paper as he half-heartedly ate his lunch. The break room at the convenience store where he worked was dirty and unkempt, but he ignored it and turned back to browsing the ads.

I’ve got to find a place to live, he thought. I can’t stay at home any more. Not after last night. Not after Dad hit me and called me a fag. He rubbed his hand back through his medium-length brown hair and sighed. All these places want security deposits, though. I can’t afford that kind of money. Not on minimum wage.

Each year the two high mages of Wynter and Pyria come to the Neutral Lands to sign a treaty that has kept a fragile peace between the lands of ice and fire. However, climate change is destroying these two delicate societies and it’s up to Asha and Shard not only to find a solution to the danger facing their people, but to come to terms with the fire and ice in their own hearts. Will these elements of love save their countries or drive a bigger wedge between them?

This is an update of an old story I wrote, now available for free in ePub, .mobi, .lit and .pdf formats.

In other news, the art for Hearts On Fire is coming along, I received a sketch this week. Very excited to see the final cover image and hoping to have Hearts On Fire released within the month of August!

An update on my current projects:

Written In Stone: 10k+ words
White Knights: Planning Chapter Two
Planning to revamp some of my f/f short stories and release them for free within the next few months; also plan to edit The White Ship and Daughters of Gaia for general release within the year.

My short stories New World Rising, Perfect Drug and Weeping Willow are now available to buy on Smashwords! Smashwords has versions of the stories for most e-readers, so you now have more choice in how to read my work.

Written In The Stars will follow as soon as the 90-day period of exclusivity in the Amazon KDP Select program expires.